Dear All,
Land Rover Joe here, after a bit of a hiatus.
I wanted to posit some observations about these "frame sliders." I purchased mine back in 2010 and have driven them in some of the most corrosive environments on the planet (some...not all). These hot spots even have corroded aluminum.
First of all…these are not Frame Sliders but sill guards. You can (and I have) jack from them…but buyer beware: this could damage the sills and make your life much more difficult. A Land Rover engineer told me to “knock it off before you knock the doors off.” In short, the only true frame sliders I know of are the one’s made by Tactical 4X4; they bolt directly onto the frame. I wish they were available back in 2010.
In 2013, while still in Africa, I pulled the Voyager “frame sliders” off to inspect them…and they had very severe rust damage. It appears that Voyager does not use a single piece of iron but welds many thin sheets together…meaning when these corrode, they expand and come apart. We did what we could with a chisel and then cleaned, coated, and repainted (regular anti-rust paint and not powder coating) then reinstalled. I will be pulling them off again in a few weeks in order to replace them with frame sliders from Tactical 4X4. I thought I had pix of the last time I looked at them in 2013…but I cannot find them (Alas, I meant to post them). I will try to provide pix of the sliders as they are now as well as pix of the underbody with the new modifications once complete—I will be doing a lot of work to include adding a fuel tank skid plate, and a rear diff plate/cage to add to my extensive amount of underbody armor.
In conclusion, these sill guards are ok but not as frame sliders. And as they are powder coated…they will rust. Period. I was rather disappointed and surprised by the fact that they were not fabricated from solid steel…thus making a pretty big mess on the inside. This could lead to corrosion of other parts as it may rub the paint and other finishes off the body. I don’t know if adding additional coating will really make a difference as once water gets inside, the whole structure will rust out from the inside. Furthermore, the increased size of the part with heavy coatings may rub paint or just not fit underneath properly.
So, I am ultimately dissatisfied with these sliders, and will replace them at full cost for new frame sliders by Tactical 4X4. Truth be told, the Voyager sliders have served me well, protecting the sills from big rocks (even crushing them) as well as emergency jacking (again…bad idea) over some pretty tough terrain. Due to the amount of rust damage to them, I do not think I can even get any resale value for the Voyager sliders as I suspect the integrity of the steel has been compromised. I have high hopes for the Tactical 4X4 gear, and will be using them day-to-day relatively soon in a very rocky, on-and-off road (but not as corrosive), African environment.
More to follow.
Cheers,
Land Rover Joe